Bradycardia

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VeDDRA Code: 188

2,571 adverse event reports referencing this reaction

2,571
Total Reports
557
Deaths
2170.0%
Death Rate

Species Most Affected

Dog 2,033
Cat 471
Horse 25
Human 14
Rabbit 9
Monkey 4
Turtle 3
Cattle 2
Other 2
Goat 1

Breeds Most Affected

Domestic Shorthair 195
Dog (unknown) 150
Retriever - Labrador 141
Crossbred Canine/dog 114
Shih Tzu 110
Chihuahua 94
Terrier - Yorkshire 79
Cat (unknown) 72
Shepherd Dog - Australian 64
Boxer (German Boxer) 58

Associated Drugs

Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride 501
Isoflurane 333
Propofol 264
Butorphanol 233
Maropitant Citrate 223
Moxidectin 211
Atipamezole Hydrochloride 168
Butorphanol Tartrate 147
Buprenorphine 138
Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad 125
Dexmedetomidine 124
Carprofen 122
Ketamine 122
Atropine 83
Gabapentin 79
Midazolam 71
Alfaxalone 71
Sevoflurane 70
Capromorelin Tartrate 65
Cefovecin 64

Data Summary

Metric Value
Total reports referencing reaction 2,571
Reports with fatal outcome 557
Case-fatality rate (reported events) 2170.0%
Species observed 10
Breeds observed 20
Drugs associated with reaction 20

Source: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine — Adverse Event Reporting (CVM AER); reaction term coded under VeDDRA 188.

Bradycardia Reaction Insights

The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine database currently lists 2,571 adverse event reports that reference Bradycardia as a reaction term, including 557 reports with a death outcome — a 2170.0% case-fatality figure calculated across only those events where this reaction was coded. The reaction is indexed in the openFDA system under VeDDRA code 188, the standardized veterinary dictionary used to normalize clinical signs across submitters. Because reports are voluntary and often describe multiple concurrent signs per animal, the volume here reflects reporting intensity rather than true incidence in the broader pet population.

Bradycardia appears most frequently in reports for Dog (2,033 reports), Cat (471 reports), Horse (25 reports) — with Dog dominating at 2,033 entries. Within those species, the breeds most often named alongside this reaction are Domestic Shorthair (195), Dog (unknown) (150), Retriever - Labrador (141). These distributions are influenced both by underlying breed popularity and by how veterinarians and owners code a given clinical sign, so they should be interpreted as a reporting fingerprint rather than a pure susceptibility ranking.

The drugs most commonly co-reported with Bradycardia are Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride (501 reports), Isoflurane (333 reports), Propofol (264 reports), Butorphanol (233 reports), with Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride appearing alongside this reaction in 501 submissions. Co-reporting does not establish that any specific product caused the reaction — FDA CVM data captures temporal association only. The value of these aggregates is in flagging which therapeutic classes appear repeatedly alongside a given clinical sign, so owners and veterinarians can ask targeted questions about medications currently in use.

Source: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine — Adverse Event Reports FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine — Adverse Event Reports Data reflects voluntary submissions and may not represent actual incidence rates

Related

Data sourced from official AKC, AVMA, ACVO, and breed-club veterinary references. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBreed Editorial